Cancer patient receives surprise doll with prosthetic leg like hers

A young cancer patient got the surprise of her life thanks to strangers.

Author:
Larry Seward , KHOU

Published:
12:37 AM CDT June 22, 2017

Updated:
12:37 AM CDT June 22, 2017

A young cancer patient got the surprise of her life thanks to strangers.

Dylan Probe could not wait to get her hands on a KHOU 11 News GoPro camera. She loves cameras almost as much as surprises and winning races.

Dylan is a triathlete. She finished three before turning 10 years old. So just imagine how she feels limping on the leg cancer did not touch.

“Her very first night in the hospital, we sat down and we had a conversation,” said Megan Probe, Dylan’s mom. “She said, 'You know what, Mommy? Cancer’s not going to win no matter what.' I said, 'What do you mean?' She goes, 'Well, either I’ll be cured or I’ll go to heaven. Either way, I win.'”

Doctors discovered a tumor on Dylan’s left heel last year. They diagnosed her with Ewing Sarcoma, a bone cancer that affects 200 children in the United States each year.

Dylan’s cancer did not spread. However, it forced amputation and enough chemotherapy to keep the fourth-grade class president home from school germs.

“If you want a fever, go to school,” she said.

Her life is one of six featured in a childhood cancer photo project called “More than Four.” Photographer Sherina Welch did it after learning the government, pediatric cancer’s biggest research funder, spends 4 percent of its budget on children.

“I can’t imagine if I had a child (who) had cancer how that would make me just on fire,” Welch said. “Why is it only 4 percent?”

So when Welch heard Dylan could use a doll for comfort, one that looks like the 10-year-old, Welch delivered a surprise: an American Girl doll with a prosthetic lower left leg.

Though thankful, Dylan is looking for more.

“You don’t have to know me,” she said. “You don’t have to have anything to do with me. You just have to believe.”

For more information on the photo project and how it can make a difference, click here.